Regenerative gas-lamp



@o Model.)

F. W. CLARK REGBNBRATIVB GAS LAMP. No. 430,468. Patented June 17, 1890.

UNITED STATES PATENT OEE'ICE.

FRANK. 1V. CLARK, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE UNITED GAS LAMP COMPANY, OF NEW JERSEY.

REG EN ERATIVE GAS-LAM P.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,468, dated June 17 1890.

Application led April 15,1885. Serial No. 162,312. (No model.) Patented in England `Tnly 1, 1881, No. 2,869; in Germany December 31,1881,No. 20,252; in France January 2, 1882, No. 146,664, and in Belgium April 28, 1884, No. 611,968.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK. W. CLARK, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Regenerative Gas-Lamps, of which the following` is a specification.

The within-described invention has heretofore been patented to me in Great Britain by Letters Patent No. 2,869, dated July 1, 1881; in Germany by Letters Patent No. 20,252, dated December 31, 1881; in France by Letters Patent No. 146,664, dated January 2, 1882, and in Belgium by Letters Patent No. 64,968, dated April 28, 1884.

This invention pertains to an improved construction of gas-lamps of the type in which heated air is introduced in sufficient quantities to supply the fiame or flames, so as to produce more perfect combustion, and in which, also, the gas to be burned is heated before it reaches the point of ignition; and the object of it is to provide for such lamps a nearly flat or horizontal flame to burn at the bottom of the lamp, and to be there substantially surrounded on both its upper and under sides by strata of more or less highlyheated air carried to the flame by the eurrents induced by combustion. To effect this result, my improvement consists in the arwhich tube and plate the incoming air, heated by the escaping products of combustiomis definitely directed downward upon the upper side of the flame, so that the latter is thereby deflected outward into ahorizontal or nearly horizontal or saucer-like shape beneath the plate, and in further combining it with additional air-passages, admitting air into the globe in quantities adequate to maintain a `more or less highly-heated supply of air to the under side of the fiame, thus securing a very perfect combustion and producing a white and brilliant light.

If a spur or ring burner be employed', it should be of the usual fiat construction, so to speak, such as is represented in Eig. 1. If an Argand burner be used, it should be of the well-known type, in which the gas to be burned issues through a row of small orifices made in the outer vertical wall of the burner near one of its ends or in one of its ends, and the burner should be so placed in the lamp that this row of orifices shall be in substantially the same plane and in substantially the same relation to the other part of the lamp as is the spur-burner shown in the drawings.

The additional air-passages above referred to, admitting air to the under side of the flame, constitute an important feature of my improvement. They are made around the body of the lamp above the globe, and by them air from the exterior atmosphere is introduced in large quantities into the globe. This air, after it enters the globe, will become highly heated, and in this condition a great portion of it will be carried to the under side of the flame, thereby forming a stratum or layer of hot air immediately beneath the latter, and making the combustion at the burner very much more perfect than it would otherwise be.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to deseribeit, reference being had to the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical seetion of a lamp constructed according to my improvement; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal. section on the line A B of Fig. 1, showing the top plate of the heating-chamber.

a, is the lamp-body; b, the glass or globe; c, the cover, and g a reflector.

d and e are concentric tubes, which .are connected together by the cover at the top and by the reflector at the bottom.

h is a chamber or air passage-way formed by the lamp-body a and the outer tube c, and t' a cover for the same.

are air-inlets to this chamber or passageway, and akare air-inlets into the outer tube e, and both of these sets of air-inlets are provided with any suitable arrangement to allow of their being more or less opened or closed, so as to regulate the quantity of air supplied to suit different qualities of gas and the size' of thc burner.

o is an air-receiving chamber formed between the tubes (Z and e, and u is the gas-supply pipe.

Between the inner tube Cl and the gas-pipe u, I provide an additional pipe (Z, the spacep, between it. and the tubo (Z, forming the chimney, and the space q, between the tube dand the gas-pipe u, forming the heated-air passage-way, through which the incoming air is conducted to the burner.

A spur-burner, so-called, such as is represented in the drawings, or a ring or an Argand burner or burners v may be employed in my improved lamp, and I arrange such burner at the bottom of the lamp, as shown, in order that the light from it shall be thrown downward without or substantially without shadow. from the burner is placed an earthenware or metal continuation e of the tube d', the bottom or lower end of which is perforated and forms a perforated plate e2, and through this tube and plate the incoming air flows, and is thereby definitely directed downward upon the upper side of the flame, the tube e also being perforated, if found desirable, for causing a portion of the heated air to be more equally supplied to the interior surface of the flame.

The air-heating chamber of my improved lamp is constructed as follows: I make it of annular form l with two upright concentric walls 3 3 and 4 4 and a top plate or disk 5 and a bottom plate or disk 6. The gas-pipe u passes down through the middle of the chamber and the central portion of the top plate 5 closes the upper end of the central opening of the annulus, and the concentric walls 3 3 and 4E 4 may respectively extend downward and form the hereinbefore-mentioned concentric tubes d and CZ. In that portion of the walls which is between the top and bottom plates 5 and 6 are formed horizon tal lateral air passage-ways which communicate at their outer ends with the air-receiving chamber o and thereby with the exterior atmosphere, and at their inner ends with the above-mentioned central openings of the annulus, so that the incoming air which passes into them will necessarily be heated, and will then be drawn into the space or chamber q and be carried directlyidownward to the burn er, beingfu rther y heated by its passage through said chamber. In the top plate 5, as also in the bottom plate 6, are provided openings p', which openings in the two plates respectively register with p each other and constitute iiues for carrying A short distance above the flamev off the products of combustion, forming for that purposea continuation of the chimneyp.

In order to prevent the glass or globe from becoming unduly heated, which is specially necessaryin lamps which generate so great an amount of heat as do those of the type herein referred to, and also to render the combustion more perfect and to convey to the under side of the flame-heated air in quantities adequate to maintain a suflicient supply thereof to the flame, I provide the air inlets or apertures jj, which are arranged annularly around the lamp-body above the globe, and by moans of which air is admitted into the latter. This air preserves the globe from injury, and in addition, inasmuch as from its contact with the hot glass and with other parts of the lamp, as well as in its passage through the globe, it becomes heated and in that condition reaches the burner at all sides of the latter and forms a stratum of heated air beneath the iiame, it aids in producing a very nearly perfect combustion and renders the light extremely white and brilliant.

For the purpose of securing an air-tight joint between the lamp-case and the cover Ii, I provide the body a with a iiange l, on which rests on india-rubber washer n, so that when the cover t' is dropped into its place the inner part of the upper surface of the washer always bears against the under surface of the cover, thus keeping the joint air-tight.

s in the drawings indicates the place of entry of the gas, and t is a tube for conveying it to the pipe u.

d2 is an annular flange or guard, under which the incoming air is caused to pass on its way to the heating-chamber and to the air tube or passage q, and z is a muffler or wind-guard of any suitable construction.

The operation of my improved lamp is as follows: The gas entering through the inletpipe t passes into the pipe u and thence to the burner. Upon the gas being ignited a draft is formed in the chimney and air will enter the lamp through the inlets k and j, and that portion of it which comes in through the inlets 7c will pass into the receiving-chamber o, and thence under the flange or guard cl2 to and through the heating-chamber, and from there into the air-tube q, thus becoming heated in its passage, and passesv in the heated state to the Haine through the tube e and perforated plate e2, while at the saine time the air which enters through the inlets j will pass into and from the chamber h around the glass or globe b and under the reiiector g,

thus serving to keep both of the latter from becoming too hot, the said air itself thereby becoming warmed before it reaches the ame. From this construction and arrangement of lamp it will be understood that the gas, as well as the air, will be heated before it reaches the burner, and being consequently carried in a heated condition to the under side of the latter in large quantities and forming a stratum of hot air beneath it, with the effect,

IOO

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above mentioned, of greatly aiding the combustion and rendering the light white and brilliant.

I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details herein laid down and shown in the drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of my invention.

Having thus described my improvement, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

In a regenerative gas-lamp, a spur, ring, or Argand burner arranged at the bottom of the lamp, so that the light from it shall be thrown downward and be substantially without shadow, in combination, first, with a vertical tube, the bottom of which is perforated, so that it forms ad' perforated plate, and is FRANK. W. CLARK.

Witnesses:

T. W. PRICE, B. BRADY. 

